#Peacecorps

[ryanlemp]

Coley and Abia

[biographiness]

Did you know that on this day on March 1st in history, Yellowstone National Park was established, the Peace Corps was created, and the March 1st Movement began in Korea?📜🌲🌏

Follow for more👉 @biographiness

[katindonesia]

Here we are again!

Last week I had my first English club with the virtual service pilot program. I was lucky to get the program that I applied to in Kraksaan, Probolinggo, East Java. My desa (village), is to the East of that in Paiton. I cannot lie, it feels good to work with Indonesian students once more. It is especially great to be able to work with students who *want* to learn from me. Thanks to the internet, I can be present in Indonesia after working my big-girl BCBA job. There are 3 total Virtual Service Pilot "participants" aka "VSPP"s. This in no way affects my clout as a RPCV. Anywho, there are 3 of us for Indonesia. One guy is at a school in West Java and another dude is serving a school in NTT. West Java guy did his service in China! Color me jealous batman. The other dude in NTT (East Nusa Tenggara) did his service in Timur-Leste, which is literally a country on the other side of one of NTT's islands. Things have come a long way since my Peace Corps service (which was not THAT long ago!). I look forward to helping organize English Clubs in Indonesia to be something a little more consistent throughout schools. I am thinking of something like an English Club curriculum? That could be a resource for PCVs? And like a 3-4 year topic curriculum so that it can be cycled through and none of the students have to repeat any of the topics too heavily since the English Club has all ages of all the grades at each school? It could be something that is improved upon with time, so that it evolves with the world. My head is exploding with ideas!

[keyerrasthoughts]

These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions of Peace Corps or the United States government.

Hi everyone,

It’s been about two months since being back in Tonga so I thought now would be a good time to update everyone on how things are going. Just to get caught up I returned to Tonga in late March after a very intensive and stressful medical check. I’ll save you the details, but there were times I didn’t think I‘d be able to return to finish my service. Fortunately, I was wrong and was able to return in late March with 3 other volunteers from my previous group. We had 10 days of training on the main island of Tongatapu in a village called Hoi. We stayed with host families during that time. And then we were sent to our sites. I’m now off of the main island, on a nearby smaller island. For security reasons I’m not sure how much we can share about our specific site locations so I will stay intentionally vague. But the majority of this will be about my experience so far at site. And to quote a movie that I quite enjoyed Avatar: The Way of Water “her heartbeat is mighty.”

This is not the same site I had when I first came here to Tonga, though I have every intention of visiting my previous site while I am here. And they are so different, my previous site from my current site. I am working as an English Teacher at a Government Primary School. It’s been great! Me and the other volunteer here, David, joke about how I hit the jackpot with my site placement. It’s a perfect fit in so many ways. I have mainly been working in the classroom with classes 3-6. Which is the same age group as our (American Education System) grades 3 - 6. The kids are the highlight of my day everyday. They are so sweet, fun, and eager to learn English which makes my job that much more easy and fun. I’m so lucky that my job is play games with my kiddos while continuing to fuel their desire to learn the English language.

I would like to highlight the relationship between the Peace Corps organization and individual communities here is fantastic and Peace Corps volunteers are treated with the upmost respect. While I’m so lucky and thankful this is the case, it means that I get a ton of attention. Which I love, but it poses a bit of a challenge because I actually feel the most comfortable taking up the least amount of space and attention. It’s been fun noticing my more introverted and quiet kiddos and community members because I relate so strongly to them. Within the larger community, I have been working with the older students enrolled in high schools with their English assignments. I’ve enjoyed working with them and seeing what they are studying. However, I always worry that I am not being helpful enough. See my Tongan is not great, and I’m super shy about using it. However, each time I’ve worked with students they seem to leave with the correct answers and a better understanding of the assignment or the information. It’s an area where I hope to grow in. I would say that is true for many areas of my service. I would love to grow in my ability and my confidence in: tutoring English, classroom management, and speaking Tongan. Those are just some of the areas off the top of my head.

I briefly mentioned my current struggles with speaking Tongan. I am learning the language from my host family, school kids, and a language learning book provided by Peace Corps. Also, I am taking language lessons twice a week from my principal after school. My goal is to learn as much Tongan as I can. I would love to be able to hold conversations in Tongan and understand what is being said in church. We’ll see what’s a manageable goal for how long I’ll be here. Right now, though, like I said my Tongan is not great.

Lastly, I want to talk about church as it is a huge part of my life right now. My mom and I joke that I go to church more here than I did in the States, which is absolutely the case. We go to church, on a typical week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 6pm-ish, and Sunday. And on Sunday, there are 3 services. One at 6am, 10am, and 4pm. Though, I usually only attend the 10am and 4pm services. Actually, my first weekend here, at site, I attended an “Apitanga” which is essentially a church camp over 4 days and 3 nights. It was Easter themed, so there were multiple bible lessons, along with what we would call praise dance (action) practice. Also, those who chose to could sleep in the church hall. Which is like the church recreation building. It was so much fun and also so exhausting. But fundamentally the best integration tool I could have asked for. I met so many of the Wesleyan Church youth members. Some of which are students at the school where I work. Some, I would consider friends.

All in all, I’m doing fine. Life is good here in Tonga. The weather has started to cool off which I love, but everyone around me is saying it’s too cold. I have kids wearing coats to school in the morning. I do miss my family in the States. It made me a little sad to celebrate Mother’s and Father’s day here without my parents. But the news headlines that I randomly read don’t make me want to go back to the States. And it’s proven really difficult to explain why the US is such a mess when I’m asked by Tongans. I’m thankful to be here! I’m thankful for the family I’m gaining here. I’m thankful for Peace Corps that is allowing me to have a once in a lifetime experience twice now. I’m looking forward to the growth that I will obtain while being here. Thank you for reading this! I’m looking forward to writing more blog posts in the future.

Much love,

Keyerra (‘Ela)

PS: below is some music and things I’ve been listening to :)

Music:

If by Chance - Ruth B.

Body Ain’t Me - Pink Sweats

State of Grace - Taylor Swift

Liahona-Lanu Mata Hinehina by Peni Tonga ft. Nisha Recorsz

Podcast:

The Pivot Podcast ft Dawn Staley

[arholistictherapies]

Meditation is a science.

[soundtrackalley]

Day 1 Peace Corps. My robots are passing out food to their little robots. Great move! Also the pre-drawing exercise. @simpledailydrawing #PeaceCorps #AddMore #simpledailydrawing #March2023 #drawingprompts #robots #frumpysketch use FrumpySketch5 at checkout for $5 off https://www.instagram.com/p/CpP3QvGLdw0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[flashwise]

Bless the Rains Down --Very first local dish in Lusaka. Sima, bream, sweet potato leaves, pumpkin leaves and beans for about four bucks. Local dish is always easy to get and affordable. Now that I think about it, I had beer first local dish somewhere else. It was same as the bream but goat meat instead. The dish is based on tomato sauce which can’t go wrong. Yummy yummy. #lusaka #zambia #ig_zambia # africa #sima #foodstagram #bream #sweetpotatoleaves #pumpkinleaves #greens #peacecorps #tuesdaylunch #루사카 #잠비아 #먹스타그램 #아프리카 #시마 #민물생선 #채소 #고구마잎 #호박잎 #ルサカ #ザンビア #🍠葉 #芋葉 #魚 #ピスコ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn4Cv2rokIJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[intlpeacecorps]

International Peace Corps is a registered Non Government Organization in India and United Nations #Peace #gandhipeace #mandelapeace #peacecorps #awarness #peaceawarness #intlpeacecorps Become our Peace volunteer / Ambassadors, Peace Activist, Human Rights Defenders. https://www.instagram.com/p/CmhK44xveVN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[omyogaashram]

“There is no wifi in the mountains, but I promise you will find a better connection.” Join Yoga Retreat- https://www.omashram.in/yoga-retreat Mob- 9805693514,9816494732

[luvbug724]

jeanee come home the kids miss you 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[ryanlemp]

[kvetch19]

[dead-rabbit-games]

Words by @nightmareworks, art by @moiderahart

The Midway is the logical extension of IPS-N’s purchase and conversion of Atropos from pastoral world to military-industrial nightmare. Developed to be used by “Protection Officers” and “Stabilization Delegates” of the IPS-N Admiralty PeaceCorp (the civilian equivalent of the Marine Police) in anti-riot and anti-rebellion actions in the megasprawls of Atropos. “What policing would require a mech?” a sane man asks. There is no policing that requires mechanized support- this is a tool of oppression, wrought by greedy hands and unleashed upon a populace who strive to escape it.

The Midway has only seen large usage in the Auric Range, as the local Admiralty steps up its attempts to contain and control the ever riotous population of Atropos and the colonial holdings in Ladon’s Corpse. DoJ/HR has nominally signed off on the design of the Midway, but not its usage, and hounds IPS-N for every deployment.

Occasionally in Atropos, one finds a Midway that has been brought down by the populace, stripped of corporate branding and reworked into a neighborhood protector, standing firm against incursions by Protection Officers and allowing for some respite from the megasprawl nightmare of the Fortress World that has made the mech infamous.

--

IPS-N MIDWAY. 1/12 OF AURIC RANGE

[bigtiddydumbass420]

something about Dodge Mason screams angst? Like the only scenrio i can imagine him deals with angst omfg. What im seeing is Dodge and OC started dating similarity to him and Natalie, maybe you didn't win Panic and Dodge, a man of his word , he spilt the earnings with you since you helped him. Idk I can see OC main motivation is trying to get him to laugh while finding any freaking way to get out of this stupid town and Texas in general (i hate it here help), working odd and end jobs, even doing some schooling online, Dodge and OC having parallel play while she does her assignments while he reads or some shit boys do. Going to the local diner to get dinner after, surpising him at the rodeo, chilling and hanging out in his car, the usual yk.

Here comes the angst

When the oppturnity comes, OC leaps at the chance, maybe getting accepted to transfer to a school abroad, maybe doing something like the peacecorp, something like that, OC obv making plans as soon as she sees the later and excidedly calls Dodge to tell him the news. Him feigning shared exciment, even over the phone she can tell something is off, not wanting to press it now, so OC decide they'll talk about it over dinner . Dinner happens, Dodge can say he's excited but everything about him is screaming the opposite. She confront him on this, calmly at first, annoyed and angry at his sudden switch up, it's not like she were quiet about leaving town, its not like she didn't scream from the rooftops about leaving, so why all the sudden, her main supporter, is now silently begging for her to stay. Finally, he spoke up, "You sure you want to go there" this little comment turns into a full blown arguement. Him, desperate, trying almost anything to convince her to stay, he pulls the "You got your family here, what, you're just gonna abandon them? " You scoff, in disbelief that he pulled THAT card, not finding the words, OC is a mess at this moment, she holds back her tears and goes back inside. This is the last conversation they have before shes on the plane.

[fyrewalks]

i am thinking about javi and his home life and what would've led him to choosing the military after everything. like, i get him being lost and confused and needing some direction. the structure and the order were probably a comfort. but like, do we think he grew up with the idea of 'you're choices are military or college after high school'? bc why not something like the peacecorps or some other nonprofit he can loose himself in in an attempt to lessen the survivor's guilt. like, do you think he grew up with the idea that to have value, you have to make a name for yourself? which is so interesting to me bc it's kind of at odds with who we first see him as - the long hair, kind of lazy and uninspired (just wants to eat chips and chill), loves his tech but maybe not the work that goes along with it, loves kate but never says anything?? like he's not presented as a real go getter, but then here he is after five years and the military with this fancy company. is it just the trauma that led to some different life choices or is he finally trying to meet expectations?? i am just having some thoughts here.

[cozyrosykay]

Well….I made myself very sad 😭 I wrote this in like 20mins so it’s not amazing. But I wanted to get it down while I saw it in my head. I’ll tweak it and then add it to AO3. I want to make it more rip your heart out. As I am a Renee/Jean shipper and that will not change, but if I’m going to write them breaking up then I want to be absolutely destroyed by it 😳

@capcavan @broken-heart-raven-queen this is what ya’ll inspired 🥲

Renee stared down at her plate. Untouched food stared back at her. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to say goodbye. She didn’t want to break her own heart and his but she didn’t know what else to do.

They weren’t good for each other.

They weren’t right for each other.

She wished she could love him the way she wanted too and she knew deep down that he didn’t love her romantically either.

But how do you say goodbye to someone that you love? Who hasn’t done anything wrong? Someone that she did love with all her heart just not romantically. How do you say goodbye to a person who has been through so much and who looks at you, as though you hung the sun itself. And that was part of the problem, wasn’t it? His affection often felt more like worship than love. She didn’t want to be on a pedestal, she wanted to be loved and wanted for the flawed human being that she was.

She knew what she had to do. And now was the perfect time. Alone in his apartment and she was leaving for the PeaceCorp in two weeks. She could mourn alone and away from her friends worried gazes. And he would be going to stay with Kevin next week for a month so he wouldn’t be alone.

Jean stared at Renee. She wasn’t eating even though he had fixed her favorite and her eyes were sad. He knew what was coming. He knew that she was just working up the courage to let him go.

He hated it.

But also knew deep down that she was right. He just wasn’t strong enough to be the one to end them, to let her go; but she’d always been stronger. He was alive because of her strength.

He had known long before now, that what they had wouldn’t go the distance they didn’t love each other the way people who stayed together and got married and had children with a white picket fence love each other they.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure he would ever want to be a father. And he knew that being a mother was something Renee longed for one day in the far off future.

They loved each other, but not enough.

He often felt that she loved him with the care a mother, a good mother unlike his own, loved her child, or the way a deity loved their disciple. Part of that was his own fault, he held her up on a pedestal and it made her uncomfortable. But how could he not? She was his savior. He stopped believing in God, but he would never stop believing in Renee Walker.

So yes, he knew it was coming when he caught her looking at Matt and Dan with the same naked, longing that he knew he wore looking at Andrew and Neil. He never thought he would be jealous of Neil now that he was also free from Edgar Allen. But he was when he saw the fierce but subtle adoration that Andrew and Neil held for one another.

He knew it was coming and he knew it would be today; at this dinner. She would want clean break before leaving for the Peace Corp, and she wouldnt want him alone. Which is probably why she had enthusiastically encouraged his trip to see Kevin.

He didn’t know how he was going to live without her or if he would want to because being loved by Renee even when it was lacking in what he wanted was better than being not loved at all. What if she left and and his parents were right that no one would ever truly love him? Would she stay if he begged? No one else ever had. But he knew that she would, and eventually it would destroy them both.

Jean startled when he saw a tear roll down her cheek. And the small, shocked sound she made had him thinking that she hadn’t realized that she had started crying.

“I can’t do this” she whispered, her voice husky with the husky tears she was trying to hold back.

“I know”his voice was weak and sad.

At the sound of his voice Renee gave up the fight with her tears “I’m so sorry Jean”

“I know” he said again, his own tears beginning to fall “I am too.”

Renee choked on a sob “I do love you.”

Jean looked to the ceiling, hating to see her in such distress and also hating the awful feeling in his own chest “I love you too, it’s just not enough.”

Renee got up from her chair and moved to his lap, burrowing her face in his neck as she cried, and he clung to her tightly, afraid that this might be the last time he ever held her in his arms. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you in my life” he hated the words as soon as they left his mouth, hated their weakness. He wasn’t shocked when she pushed herself out of his arms but he was shocked to see the fierceness in her eyes “You will NEVER not have me in your life Jean. As long as I’m breathing you will always have family and someone who loves you. The end of our romantic relationship is not the end of us in each others lives.”

The relief that Jean felt at her words was overwhelming, he knew she meant them. He was not losing her completely. Their relationship would change but not end.

He hugged her back to him fiercely “thank you” he whispered against her ear.

“You will find someone Jean Moreau, you will find someone who will love you in the way the I can’t. They will adore the ground you walk on. They’ll see all the amazing things that I do and they’ll fall head over heels in love with you, and at first I’ll be jealous that it couldn’t be me and then I’ll love them because they love you.”

Jean sobbed into her neck. He believed in Renee Walker and hoped that she was right.